Aromatherapy

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Beginnings of Aromatherapy
  • Burning of gums and resins for incense
  • Smudging with aromatic plant material
  • Used by Egyptian priests
    • Also doctors
    • Religious ceremonies and embalming
    • Offerings to gods



History
  • 2,500 years ago
  • “The key to good health rests on having a daily aromatic bath and scented massage”
-Hippocrates

  • Dioscorides wrote in Materia Medica
    • 100 AD
    • Ointments and oils had great benefit

  • Aromatic oils used in China and India
    • Same time period as Egypt
  • Massage with aromatic oils
  • Jasmine, rose, and chamomile
  • Herbs and oils used by ancients
    • Still valid today

  • Distillation of oils by Persians
    • 10th century
    • Hieronymus Braunschweig wrote books
      • 16th century German physician
      • Referenced 25 essential oils
    • Books were center of aromatherapy renaissance

  • Rene Gattefosse burned hands in explosion
  • Healing properties of lavender fixed hands
  • Soldiers in military hospitals in WWI
    • Healing and antiseptic properties of oils
    • Coined term “aromatherapy”
      • Published book in 1937



What is Aromatherapy?
  • Utilizing naturally extracted aromatic essences from plants
  • Art and science
  • Promotes the health
    • Body
    • Mind
    • Spirit

  • Unifies physiological, psychological, and spiritual processes
  • Enhances an individual’s innate healing process
  • Balance and harmonize
  • Therapeutic application
  • Medicinal uses


Essential Oils
  • Fragrant essence of plants
  • Extracted from plants, herbs, and flowers
  • Highly concentrated


How Aromatherapy Works
  • Massage Oils
    • Enter skin through hair follicles and sweat glands
    • Scent also enters into olfactory system

  • Scented oils
    • Added to water and heated
    • Vapor enters the air
    • Molecules are absorbed into bloodstream


What Aromatherapy Does
  • Oils have a great effect on a person’s
    • Mood
  • Help remove toxins
  • Each has different properties and effects


How Aromatherapy is Performed
  • Never want to use concentrated oils
  • Baths
    • Add oils to water
    • Stimulates olfactory system

  • Vapor Inhalation
    • Add a few drops to heated water
    • Breath in with a towel or leave in room

  • Compress method
    • Washcloth in bowl with diluted oils
    • Place over part on body with pain

  • Massage
    • Essential oils added to lotions
    • Massage therapists can also do aromatherapy
  • Can add oils to any lotion to utilize effects


What it can Treat

  • Roman chamomile- earache, depression, skin conditions
  • Clary sage- oily hair and skin
  • Lavender- insect bites, burns, nausea, migraines



  • Myrtle- symptoms of whooping cough
  • Neroli- sore throat , insomnia, stress
  • Sweet orange- stomach complaints, stress, lifts mood
  • Ylang ylang- hypertension, tachycardia



  • Peppermint- fighting cold and flu symptoms
  • Rosemary- muscular and rheumatic complaints
  • Tea tree- sore throat, respiratory infections



Insurance Companies
  • Aromatherapy is considered alternative medicine
  • Some companies cover, depend on plan


Schooling
  • Aromatherapy Colleges
    • High school diploma
    • Recommendations
    • Courses
      • Online
      • In-school


Education/Training
  • 200 hours of training and practical tuition
    • NAHA’s Standards of Aromatherapy Training


Courses
  • Basics of botany
  • Essential oils
  • Organic chemistry
  • Blending techniques
  • Methods of Application
  • Safety, etc.



Licensing
  • Currently an unregulated and unlicensed field
  • Many hold a license in another occupation



Certification
  • Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification
    • Required
  • Registered nurse Certification
    • Preferred



Required Skills
  • Knowledge of essential oils
  • Knowledge of CDC infection control principles
  • Excellent communication skills